


Open Your Eyes to See

by RobinRoost



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, F/M, Female Obi-Wan Kenobi, Galidraan, Hunting, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Missions Gone Wrong, On the Run, Slightly Possessive Jango Fett, When you touch your soulmate for the first time you see color, Whump, Whumptober 2020, Worried Jedi Masters, failed escape attempt, how do you tag, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:28:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27279514
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RobinRoost/pseuds/RobinRoost
Summary: “Obi-Wan?” came a cough.“Quin,” Obi-Wan breathed, hobbling over to him. The Kiffar lifted his head slightly to give her that insufferable smirk, but immediately winced. “What’s the damage?”Quinlan looked down at the rest of his body and grimaced. “At least a broken arm, and maybe a concussion. You?”“I think the stab wound is going to be alright for now, but I injured my ankle in the fall.” She let out a hollow laugh. “Fine mess we got ourselves into this time.”----------------------------------------------------When you are trying to kill a jedi, make sure that they aren't your soulmate beforehand. It will save you a lot of hassle when you kidnap them later.
Relationships: Jango Fett/Obi-Wan Kenobi, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Quinlan Vos
Comments: 167
Kudos: 823





	1. Chapter 1

Obi-Wan jumped after Quinlan as he fell through the air, ignoring the pain in her side. The night wind whistled through her ears as she plummeted towards the ground, but all she could do was focus on grabbing his unconscious figure before they landed. Desperately reaching forwards, she grabbed his arm, pulling the prone body into her arms, and slowing the fall the best she could.

Obi-Wan cried out with pain as she landed on her ankle and tumbled forward. Quinlan slipped loose and rolled out of her arms. Getting to her feet, she hissed as she put weight on her foot, but they needed to get out of here fast.

“Obi-Wan?” came a cough.

“Quin,” Obi-Wan breathed, hobbling over to him. The Kiffar lifted his head slightly to give her that insufferable smirk, but immediately winced. “What’s the damage?”

Quinlan looked down at the rest of his bondy and grimaced. “At least a broken arm, and maybe a concussion. You?”

“I think the stab wound is going to be alright for now, but I injured my ankle in the fall.” She let out a hollow laugh. “Fine mess we got ourselves into this time.” 

What was supposed to be a simple investigation had turned into a hunt where the two padawans were the prey. Master Qui-Gon was still on the other side of the planet in comm silence. He wouldn’t be able to help them. Master Tholme was their contact on Coruscant, but they were at least four days of traveling through hyperspace from the temple. Obi-Wan and Quinlan were alone.

The sound of jetpacks rang in her ears, and she looked up.

“We have more incoming,” she muttered, looking for anywhere to hide.  _ There.  _ “There’s an alleyway up ahead. Hopefully it could provide us with at least decent cover?” She offered a hand.

Quinlan nodded. “Good idea,” he replied, grabbing her outstretched arm with his unbroken one, and pulled himself to his feet. 

Together they made their way forward, leaning on each other for strength and balance. Obi-Wan tried to ignore the pain shooting up her leg and using the force to augment her strength, she moved as quickly as possible with a broken ankle and stab wound. Running was hard, but unfortunately if they wanted to survive, it was the only way to stay ahead of their assailants. 

Her limbs burned with the effort of moving, though the alley was getting closer and closer. Maybe that was from the drugs in their soup. Force was she grateful for enhanced metabolism. The poison would have made her life even more difficult than it already was.

Belatedly, she realized that Quinlan had been right. He had said there would be at least two attempts to kill them on the mission. 

They had well surpassed seventeen.

The Mandalorians following them were out for blood. 

Finally, they arrived at the alley, and Quinlan leaned up against the dumpster. Obi-Wan followed his lead, taking the moment to breathe and attempt to release as much of her pain into the force as she could manage. They had maybe four minutes of rest before the Mandos figured out where--

“We know you’re in there, little Jetiise,” a voice called out. 

The force screamed  _ danger _ just in time for Obi-Wan to whip out her lightsaber and deflect the blaster bolt to the wall. She gasped as pain shot through her whole body as she moved. 

“Obi-Wan,” Quinlan whispered, staring at her wide-eyed. Obi-Wan tried to figure out what had happened. 

Glancing down at her shirt, there was a growing dark splotch contrasting vividly against the lighter cloth. Her bandages from the stab wound must have fallen off and moving so quickly must have reopened the wound.

The Mandalorians stood strong and proud at the entrance of the alley way, the lighting of the city contrasting almost beautifully against their armor. Obi-Wan tightened her grip on the lightsaber.

If it came to blows, it would be her with a busted ankle and losing blood quickly and a fellow padawan with a broken arm versus at least five well trained mandalorians. Wait. Make that eight. More were gathering on the rooftop. Maybe in hindsight, the alleyway with no way out wasn’t the best idea. 

There was no possible way to fight their way out of this. Maybe they could negotiate.

“We mean you no harm!” Obi-Wan yelled desperately. “Let us pass in peace!”

“Too bad,” the lead mando snarled, and charged full tilt at her. Obi-Wan pushed him back with the force, and lifted up her saber to deflect blaster fire from above. She could feel Quinlan following her lead beside her. 

Throwing an assailant into the wall made her head spin and she barely managed to block a few more shots before they made their way through her skull. The world was coming in and out of focus, but Obi-Wan just sunk into the force, letting it guide her actions. 

Shots were deflected, Fire was dodged. The lead mandalorian got too close for comfort. Obi-Wan had a well aimed kick that knocked off his helmet. Something shifted, but she couldn’t tell what. The force surrounded her, directing ever movement, every twitch. She let herself fall father and farther...

A cry pulled her out.

It was almost in slow motion as she watched Quinlan tumble backwards and onto the floor, clutching his shoulder. His shields dropped at the same time as he did.

Obi-Wan let out a scream as pain flooded her senses. Every single Mandalorian flew into the wall as she fell to the floor. No. She had to help Quin. Shakily getting to her knees and looking for anything she could use as a passable bandage, she felt Quinlan lift a shaky hand up to point at something. 

“Obi-Wan,” he wheezed. “Behind you.”

The Mandalorians encircling her again. Shoring up her shields to block out Quinlan’s pain, she whirled around, pushing down all of her own pain and dizziness. Obi-Wan summoned the green lightsaber and ignited with her blue, crouching protectively above her best friend in the Jar’kai stance.

“Don’t come closer,” she snarled. 

Startling enough, they stopped. Obi-Wan tightened her grip on the lightsabers, staying up by sheer force of will. Black spots were fading in and out of her eyes. The lead Mandalorian whose helmet she had kicked off was staring at her in open shock. 

There was something different, but Obi-Wan couldn’t figure out what it was for the life of her. 

They made a few rapid hand signals and two of the warriors lifted their blasters in perfect unison. Identical flashes of blue that her tired and stressed body was just half a moment too slow to deflect and the world went blissfully dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I should be doing actual stuff, but instead I wrote this so here you go.
> 
> Basically, when you touch your soul mate for the first time, you see color. Obi-Wan was not entirely coherent so she didn’t notice, but Jango sure did.
> 
> As for ages, Idk, but they are somewhere in their early twenties, a few years before the phantom menace. 
> 
> Qui-Gon ain’t going to be happy and neither is Tholme realize their padawans have just been kidnapped by Mandalorians. 
> 
> Not sure if I am going to continue this (I already have two other projects lol) but it was stuck in my head and I wanted to write some angst and participate in Whumptober a little bit cuz why not? Maybe I’ll do it from Jango’s perspective, but who knows?


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look! I continued it!
> 
> Also I just realized the notes for the last chapter didn't show up for some reason.... sorry.

Jango readied his blasters as the Mandalorians around him got into the formation. There were jedi on this planet: a woman in a light shirt and a kiffar with a stripe over his nose and cheeks. They had been chasing them for nearly a day, the slippery things, but finally had tracked them to the top of an old abandoned building. 

Those  _ jetii _ would pay for Galidraan. 

The ignition of four jet packs at once filled his ears as he launched into the air. The remaining soldiers were creating a perimeter. Jango burst through the window, watching the shattered glass fly forward, and heard the  _ snap-hiss _ of two lightsabers igniting. 

He fired off shot after shot towards them, but the  _ jetiise  _ deflected each one towards the ceiling or the floor. Slowly but surely, the two  _ aruetiise  _ were pushed back towards another window. 

Without warning, another  _ verd _ launched forward, getting into the Kiffar’s personal space. The man disengaged his lightsaber completely as they went hand to hand. Jango ignored them to focus on the  _ jetii’kad  _ still in the room.

Its wielder expression was grim, as she moved her saber in blurring arcs that contrasted against the dark sky. Jango could begrudgingly admit that she was good. He did notice that part of her shirt was torn, revealing bandages beneath it. That must be the one that Reese slipped a knife into.

A crash made everyone startle. The Kiffar tumbled backwards and out of the window. The woman let out a cry, and before anything else could happen  _ dove after him  _ falling towards the ground and probably imminent death. 

Wait.

They were  _ jetiise _ .

They could slow their fall with the force.

Jango ran to the window looking down. The woman was standing over the Kiffar, but neither looked dead. That wouldn’t last.

“Contact the scouts and have them follow them,” he ordered. Two  _ verde _ nodded and saluted. “We’ll confront them wherever they’re going.”

He couldn’t go down the same way they had. Instead, he made his way down the path they had entered, igniting his jetpack, and making his way around the building towards where the  _ Jetiise _ had landed.

There was blood staining the ground and a trail of it leading away. 

“Sir, the  _ jetiise _ are in the alley way.” Jango glanced around, before spotting it.

“Good work,  _ verd, _ ” he said as he ignited his jetpack again. Four more flanked him on either side. He landed on the outside of the alley and called, “We know you’re in there, little Jetiise.” He fired a single shot, and watched a saber light up to deflect it.

“Obi-Wan,” the Kiffar whispered. 

So that must be the woman’s name. She assessed them carefully, pressing one hand to her chest. Jango noted the growing stain on her shirt and favoring one leg. Despite her distinct disadvantage, she didn’t waver.

“We mean you no harm!” she yelled. “Let us pass in peace!”

_ Like you mean the Mandalorians at Galidraan no harm, jetii? _ He snarled mentally. Outwardly, he said, “Too bad,” and charged. The scouts above them started to fire and another  _ kad _ joined the first one. 

An invisible force pushed Jango backwards. The lightsabers moved in sync as their owners deflected shot after shot. Jango fired and each one was reflected back into the wall. The  _ jetiise _ moved as if flowing through water, with a deadly grace that would be admirable if it wasn’t getting in the way of killing them. 

Honestly, Jango didn’t think it should be possible with all the damage they had sustained, but then again, Jedi were a different breed.

Coming from long range was useless. He tried to get closer, but the  _ jetii  _ swung a leg up, knocking him back and his helmet off.

The world exploded.

Jango froze. 

There was  _ color _ and it was coming in on all sides with blues and greens and purples. He glanced back and could only stare at the  _ red _ hair of the woman as she deflected the blue bolts. Jango realized several things at once. 

He was soulmates with a  _ jetii. _

A  _ jetii, _ like the ones who murdered the True Mandalorians.

He had been trying to kill the  _ jetii. _

He had been trying to kill his  _ runi. _

For a moment all he could stare as he comprehended this information, but suddenly the Kiffar let out a cry of pain as a shot got through his defenses.

His runi screamed and fell to the ground.

  
Jango was thrown back along with every other Mandalorian. He got up slowly, to see his  _ runi _ , crawling towards the kiffar. She was searching for something, but the Kiffar’s mouth moved. Jango couldn’t make out the words, but his soulmate tensed slightly before summoning  _ blue _ and  _ green _ lightsabers into her hands.

He felt a flash of jealousy. What was so important about this  _ jetii _ that his  _ runi _ would defend them? He made a motion to move forward, but a look from his  _ runi  _ stopped him.

“Don’t come closer,” she snarled, settling into a crouching defensive position with both lightsabers. She swayed only the tiniest bit as she stared them down.

  
In Jango’s mind eye, she looked like a goddess. The blue and green contrasted against her face and lit up her grey eyes. The scarlet spreading across her shirt matched her red hair beautifully. This was a woman who would kill to defend her own.

He didn’t have his helmet anymore, so he made three quick hand signs. Hopefully, they would get what he meant and wouldn’t question orders. 

_ Jetii Runi. Stun _ .

Two  _ verde _ behind him lift up their guns in unison, and let off stun blasts at the same time. His  _ jetii _ was a moment too slow to block them, and fell to the ground, on top of the unconscious kiffar.

“Sir, it’s your soulmate?” Reese asked from behind them. Jango nodded slowly. “How?”

“I don’t know,” he growled. Had the  _ Manda _ given him a jedi for a perfect partner through life as some sort of sick joke? “Take them aboard the ship and get them stable. We’ll figure out this mess later.”

His soulmate was bleeding out. The cream was barely noticeable through the red blood. Jango tore off his cape, and used it as a makeshift bandage to slow down the bleeding. If his _runi_ died from this, Jango would never forgive himself. 

“Both of them?”

Jango thought for a moment, but then he remembered the protectiveness and desperation of his runi. She had jumped out of window for the kiffar, despite being injured. He had no doubt in his mind that if he hurt him, his runi would not be forgiving, soulmate or not.

“Yes,” he sighed. “Both of them.”

Jango knelt down to pick up his soulmate bridal style and ignited his jetpack, lifting into the air. 

He had a bad feeling about this. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The brain child I created at last night instead of getting sleep expanded. Snazzy.
> 
> While seeking revenge for Galidraan (more people survived than in canon because raisins), Jango finds his soulmate, and now is trying to figure out how to have jedi and partner for life in the same sentence. Fun for him... maybe not so fun for Obi-Wan and Quinlan.
> 
> The two masters are going to be worried sick. Padawans just got kidnapped by Mandalorians for no clear reason. Given the history and Galidraan, there are going to be some mamma jedi bears about to go on rampage. Fortunately or Unfortunately depending on your point of view, Jango is pretty good at staying under the radar and escaping notice, even with two kidnapped jedi padawans.
> 
> Obi-Wan is going to be confused until she is a little more coherent and recognizes that something is very different about her vision. 
> 
> Welp, hope you like this entirely strange idea that I created because I just felt like writing some angst because I have no plan, but only vauge ideas about where this is going to go if I decide to continue it further. Ideas and brain sparkles are very welcome. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> Mando'a Translations
> 
> jetii - jedi  
> jetiise - plural of jedi  
> jeti'kad (or kad for short) - lightsaber  
> runi - soulmate  
> Manda - the collective soul or heaven of mandalorians, similar to the force  
> verd - soldier  
> verde - soldier plural


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is it an update? *GASP*

Everything blurred together as Obi-Wan floated in the abyss. She remembered yelling and she remembered white hot pain. She remembered the cool touch of bacta and whispered assurances.

Nothing was concrete and became a swirl of noises and flashes of… well  _ something _ . She wasn’t coherent enough to figure out what. 

There were voices that were speaking in rapid fire Mando’a. Obi-Wan tried to understand what they were saying, but everything was so muddled. She felt a prick in her arm, and the voices faded away and she went back to drifting.

Something bright was hitting her eyelids. It was warm, but harsh. Obi-Wan opened her eyes to nearly be blinded by a white light. She tried to lift an arm to shield her eyes, but something was keeping by her side. Must be cuffs. Blinking a few more times, the world slowly came into focus. 

She was in a medbay, judging by the lights and the ceiling. Metal groaned and the room rattled. This must be on a ship. The unfortunately familiar smell of bacta clung to her skin. For some reason, the people who had stabbed her healed the wound. That did beg the question of  _ why  _ though. 

What in the blazes did a group of Mandalorians want with two jedi padawans? For Force’s sake, up until Quinlan went down, they had been trying to kill them.

Wait.

_ Quinlan. _

Obi-Wan reached towards her bond, only to feel it slip right from her grasp. That was not good. They must have given her force suppressants. Looks like she had to do this the old fashioned way. Looking down at the restraints, they were—

Her hands.

Obi-Wan stared. 

They had  _ color. _

She frantically looked around. She could see it now. The green of some leaves on a plant in the corner. The brown of her boots. The orange of a nearby pill bottle.

She had a soul mate. 

Obi-Wan flinched as footsteps echoed down the hall cutting off her line of thought.

There would be time to process this later. 

She still had her boots on and they had a lock pick. Bringing her legs to her hands and pulling it out, she sprang the cuffs and slipped off the bed. 

Obi-Wan made it into the vent just in time not to be spotted. There were alarmed shouts, but she paid them no mind. She needed to find Quinlan. If she was alive and smelled like bacta, he could be as well. 

Slowly crawling forward, as her chest and ankle were still tender, Obi-Wan made her way through the vents. Different Mandalorians were running around the hallways beneath her. Obi-Wan just kept moving. 

She was getting slightly lightheaded by the time she got to what she assumed was the detention area. The hallway appeared to be empty, so she dropped down from the vents. Pressing a few buttons to open the nearest cell, Obi-Wan barely took a step inside before she was tackled to the ground with an  _ oomph _ .

“Where is— Obi-Wan?” Quinlan asked, the aggression melting away as his face grew confused. 

“Yeah, it’s me,” She snapped. “If you could get off, that would be appreciated. I got stabbed, remember?”

Quinlan got off immediately, and helped her to her feet. Obi-Wan noted he was wearing cuffs. 

“Sorry. I was about to escape and find you,” he said, shrugging. “You don’t happen to know where our sabers are, do you?”

“No. I didn’t have time. I woke up in the medbay, heard someone coming, picked the lock, and came here,” she explained. 

“Of course you did,” he muttered. “You never liked the Healer’s Hall.”

“We should probably take this conversation outside.”

Quinlan nodded, and peeked his head out of the hallway, before cursing. Obi-Wan looked up and heard it too. People were coming. 

“Get into the vent,” he hissed. “I’ll stay here.”

Obi-Wan didn’t waste the time to argue. She ran out into the hallway, closed the door to his cell, and climbed back into the vent. Armored boots hit the metal as they raced below where she crouched. 

Mandalorians opened the cell door, and walked inside. The door whooshed behind them, and Obi-Wan sat in the vent waiting for them to come out. Quinlan was a good liar, but they both shared the common problem of mouthing off their captors. 

Obi-Wan winced as she remembered the bruises from last time she had sassed her captor. She had to deal with Master Qui-Gon fussing over her for nearly a week. 

The group of mandos walked out, and the glimpse she got of her friend before the door shut yet again was at least a little soothing. Quin didn’t look too roughed up. The lead Mandalorian who she had kicked in the face the night before…

Obi-Wan tensed.

She had, hadn’t she?

The pieces clicked together. 

Mandalorians considered soul mates sacred. Obi-Wan wasn’t dead, even though seconds before they were stunned, the Mandalorians had tried their best to wipe them off the planet. 

If she was destined for the man below her, it would also explain his shocked expression from when they had been fighting however long ago. He was speaking now, and Obi-Wan craned to hear what he was saying.

“It’s clear she’s smart, and will probably try to rescue her ally. Two of you guard the cell. Someone watch the escape pods, and we need someone else in the cockpit to launch us into hyperspace before they get any ideas. Oya!”

At the battle cry, the group split up. Obi-Wan bit back a groan. Her job just got a lot harder. She was pretty sure that she could take the two guards down, but she would need to be fast if they got to the escape pod before they went into hyperspace.

Quinlan and Obi-Wan were good, but they had no chance staying hidden from Mandalorians in their own ship for however long they were traveling while weaponless and Force-null. It was pure luck she hadn’t spotted yet.

Her soulmate could wait until Quinlan was out of the line of fire. 

Obi-Wan dropped down from the vent doing a mid air split kick, knocking both of the Mandalorians out. She opened the cell. Quinlan ran forward.

“I’m not sure if you heard,” she started, but Quinlan cut her off.

“I did. Let’s go get that escape pod before we are trapped with angry Mandalorians through hyperspace,” he said. 

Obi-Wan slipped out her lock pick and handed it to him as they ran towards the escape pod. The cuffs fell to the ground with a clank within seconds. They wove their way through the hallways. Apparently the ship was a lot larger than she had originally assumed.

“There!” Quinlan pointed towards an area, and promptly stopped. Obi-Wan had to stop herself before she bowled him over.

There were five mandos standing between them and freedom. 

“I suppose you won’t just let us go through?” Obi-Wan asked.

“I’m afraid not,” one of them said.

“It appears we are at an impasse,” Obi-Wan replied coolly. Quinlan rolled his eyes.

“Fancy words waste time. Let’s go,” he muttered, before launching into action. Obi-Wan followed close behind. All they needed to do was get to the escape pod. 

The _ Manda’paru  _ from her time on Mandalore was coming in handy now as she dodged punches and landed a few blows of her own. Of course, she was slightly rusty, but it didn’t matter. The blasters were rendered useless because of the close quarters. 

Obi-Wan was not above cheap shots when it came to her own freedom, especially when her opponents were in beskar and had weapons. Playing dirty was the only thing that kept her alive against so many adversaries. 

The escape pod got closer and closer. Quinlan managed to duck inside and was already preparing for launch, before one of the fibercord whips wrapped around his legs, pulling him to the ground. Obi-Wan launched a swift kick to the helmet of the nearest Mandalorian and lunged into the escape pod, closing the door to cut the line. 

As Quinlan detangled himself, Obi-Wan frantically tried to finish getting the pod ready to launch. The ship was beginning to move. Maybe there was a maximum of ten seconds before they entered hyperspace. 

The whole body did a shutter. Oh force.  _ Go faster! _

Obi-Wan had never plugged in coordinates so fast in her life. The second she pressed the final button, Quin was there, yanking down the lever that would launch them. The hiss and force of being propelled from the ship knocked them both off balance as they rocketed towards the planet surface. 

“Open a channel to Master Tholme!” Obi-Wan said, pushing herself back to her feet, ignoring the protest from her side. “We need to get a message out while we know the comms are working.”

Quinlan nodded, typing in his Master’s code. The images flickered once before stabilizing. Tholme’s usually solemn face broke into a relieved smile.

_ “Padawan, are you alright?” _ he asked.  _ “You’ve been out of contact for nearly three days!” _

“We’re fine. Just being chased by--” the entire escape pod rocked. Quinlan cursed. “Master, we’re caught in a tractor beam. There are Mandalorians after us. I repeat Mandalorians.”

“Wha-- Pada-- alorians--” the image flickered in and out, before fading entirely. 

Obi-Wan tightened her grip on the rim of a seat as Quinlan looked back at her.

“They’re jamming our communications,” he muttered. “I don’t think we will able to fight our way out of this one.”

Obi-Wan felt her head fall slightly. They had been so close.

“I guess there is something else you should know,” she said as the pod was pulled into a hangar. Quinlan looked back at her. “You know the mando I kicked in the face?”

“Right before I got shot? Yeah, I remember that,” he snorted bitterly. The pod thudded to the ground as artificial gravity kicked in.

“He’s my--” 

The door hissed open. 

Her soulmate stared at her with an almost feral grin.

  
“Thought you could get away,  _ runi?” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. Failed escape attempt!
> 
> Thanks for comments and kudos. Maybe more coming (depends on inspiration, ideas, and time)
> 
> Jango isn't letting his soulmate get away that easily and now he has two jedi.
> 
> The temple knows that two padawans were kidnapped by mandalorians. Obviously that isn't going to flare any old suspicions, enemies, or anything. (They don't actually know that it is the Haat Mando'ade, so prime suspects are going to be Death Watch and possibly New Mandalorians which'll be fun).
> 
> Thanks for reading, hope you guys are alive and well, and have a lovely day!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IT’S A BIRD! IT’S A PLANE! NO! IT’S AN UPDATE!

Tholme was pacing around the Temple’s Communications center. Each step echoed around the hall as he walked the stretch between the walls.

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, turn._

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, turn._

_1 meal eaten today, 2 padawans are missing, 3 days since Quinlan disappeared, 4 shadow pairs dispatched to search, 5 minutes since he last checked his inbox, 6 comforting notes from various friends, 7 hours since they lost the last lead, 8 messages from the high council, but none from Master Jinn, 9 hours of sleep in the last three days days, turn._

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, turn._

Tholme hated being the Temple contact. He wanted to be out there, finding his padawan. Instead, he was stuck in the briefing room, waiting for comm calls or leads or anything. Quinlan and Padawan Kenobi had been missing for three days and still nothing. 

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, turn._

It worried him immensely that he couldn’t feel his padawan either. Tholme knew he wasn’t dead, but Quinlan was definitely under force suppressants. Whoever had them was certainly smart and dangerous enough to both capture a jedi and hold them.

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, turn._

A light blinked and something started to beep.

_Finally._

Tholme pressed a few buttons and Master Jinn’s image appeared, flickering as it stabilized. 

_“Master Tholme,”_ the man greeted. Tholme nodded in reply, taking in Jinn’s appearance. There were darker smudges beneath the other Jedi’s eyes and he looked slightly haggard. Tholme didn’t look much better, so he was in no place to judge.

“Any new leads?” he asked hopefully. Jinn’s head dipped slightly. Tholme could see the struggle it was to retain the usual jedi serenity. He could relate. 

_“I asked around to see if anyone had seen anything. A man pointed me towards an alleyway claiming he saw two heavily injured outlanders headed towards there. I found dried blood on the ground that was ID’d as Obi-Wan’s,”_ he said, voice carefully neutral. _“There was carbon scoring on the wall, and the security holos were destroyed.”_ Jinn’s mask flickered for only a second before he finished with, _“I don’t think they are on this planet any more.”_

“Thank you, Master Jinn,” Tholme forced out. “I will alert you if we get anything on our end.”

The other jedi nodded and his image winked out. Tholme slammed a hand on the console.

No leads. 

He wanted to scream. Instead he started to pace.

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, turn._

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, turn._

How could this have happened? He had seen his padawan and knew Padawan Kenobi reasonably well. They were both resourceful, skilled, and adept duelists on their own, but even more so together. 

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, turn._

There were very few people who could have possibly grabbed them, or even injured them severely. Each one was worse than the next. Tholme didn’t want to think about it. 

_1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, turn._

He grabbed the edge of the table as he attempted to release at least some of his feelings into the force, but it proved to be a near impossible task. His padawan was missing and he was stuck here. Maybe if he had been on planet, he could have found something or prevented it or--- 

The comm beeped again, cutting off his spiral. The caller ID wasn’t one that Tholme recognized.

Tholme froze. Maybe it was a ransom case. He summoned up the most neutral mask he could before pressing the button to activate it. The image two slightly disheveled appeared. Tholme blinked, before an overwhelming sense of relief flooded over him. A smile slipped out before he could stop it. 

“Padawan, are you alright?” he asked. “You’ve been out of contact for nearly three days!” Something large eased in his chest to see Quinlan standing upright, but he did not miss the chance to examine both padawans thoroughly. 

There was a hole in Quinlan’s tunic by the shoulder. Tholme had been in enough blaster fights to know that his padawan had been shot. Padawan Kenobi’s shirt had a slit in it, and she was pressing a hand to her side. He barely suppressed a growl. Whoever had done this was going to pay.

_“We’re fine. Just being chased by--”_ The image flickered and the padawans tumbled slightly, Quinlan cursing. Tholme would have reprimanded him, but he felt something heavy sink to the pit of his stomach. Something wasn’t right. He started running a tracer to try track the signal to their location. _“Master, we’re caught in a tractor beam. Ther--”_ The image began to cut in and out, “ _\--after us. I-- Mandalorians-----.”_

“What’s going on? Padawan, are there Mandalorians after you?” Tholme asked desperately, but the holo had already disappeared. The tracer beeped. Large red words blinked into existence. 

_Signal Lost_

Of course. 

Tholme swore, before activating the comm to Jinn. The tired jedi popped up almost instantly. 

_“Did you find--”_

“They sent a message before communications gave out. Something about Mandalorians,” Tholme explained, cutting him off. Jinn stiffened, before his face melted into a scowl. 

_“Obi-Wan and I went on a mission to Mandalore two years ago. We protected their Duchess against a splinter group called Death Watch. I highly doubt that the New Mandalorians have them, as they are normally pacifist and find warrior ways barbaric. Death Watch has no such reservations,”_ he growled. _“Even if the New Mandalorians aren’t involved, they might know something.”_

Death Watch… they were the terrorists that were raving about restoring Mandalore to its former glory. Tholme wanted to be sick. Maybe the sith were extinct, but there were still plenty of darksiders that would gladly sponsor the group in exchange for a few new acolytes.

“I’m coming with you,” Tholme decided. “You’re going to need the back up and my expertise. I’ll meet you on Mandalore.”

Jinn nodded solemnly. _“May the force be with you.”_

“And you,” Tholme replied as the comm winked out. They had a lead, and Force knew that he was going to follow it. 

Now, how long would it take him to get to Mandalore from the temple?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello fellow humans!
> 
> I wrote a new chapter! 
> 
> Tholme and Jinn are going to be coming for Mandalore. Satine, you better get ready. The reason that they don’t think about the True Mandalorians because everyone thinks that they are dead or too spread out to make any difference.
> 
> (Also Tholme has met his soulmate, if anyone is asking about the red letters)
> 
> We will probably be going back to Jango and Obi-Wan and Quinlan and that mess in a bit.
> 
> In other news, I recently rediscovered how much I hate spiders.
> 
> Well, have a great day all you lovely people! Thanks for reading!!


End file.
